My name is Kevin J. Roberts, and I've made it my focus to transform lives for the better. Whether it's through ADHD or academic support, cyber addiction coaching, public speaking engagements and seminars, or my numerous books and articles, I help my clients unlock their inherent potential to change the world.

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This post is written by a 14-year-old young man with ADHD. In this short piece, he tries to give you a sense of how it feels, and how he tried to compensate.

Do you have ADD or ADHD? If you have ADHD or ADD, then you probably wouldn’t want to put in the effort to read this. ADHD is a more progressed and inconvenient form of ADD. ADHD has both good and bad aspects infused in it. ADHD often causes you to be very hyperactive, and gives you the burden of not being able to focus on a single task. You can compare ADHD to unique personalities in that no one has the exact same case of ADHD that someone else has. Everyone has aspects about themselves that nearly no one knows about, and they usually try to hide them. The majority of people know that I have ADHD, but nearly no one knows how it affects me. For whoever reads this, I would like to you know what ADHD is, and know that since no one is perfect, you do not need to feel ashamed of who you are.

I was most likely diagnosed with ADHD at birth, but it probably progressed after a series of events during my lifetime. I was given a very controversial chicken pox shot before I was 3, and the dose was far too strong. This made many things go wrong in my brain, and I could not fix it. I also hit the back of my head on concrete at a very high speed when I was sent flying out of a trampoline, and this made even more problems in my brain. The problem is that certain parts of your brain contain the brain cells that affect how hyperactive and smart you are. When I woke up, I had a popsicle in my hand, and a cat on my lap. I was happy when I woke up, but I had a raging headache, and my vision was gone for a short amount of time. Probably the worst instance of brain damage in my life was when I was in Mexico with my family and friends. My friend and I were wrestling on a bed, and before I knew what happened, I felt something hard and brittle scraping my vertebrae, and I blacked out.

When I woke up, I found out that I nearly had my spine broken, and I was very lucky that I lived. I had a scar all the way up my back until I entered 8th grade, and whenever I was reminded of it, I became even more grateful that I am alive.

My form of ADHD causes my motor skills to perform differently than a person without ADHD. For example, when I move my sight to focus on a new object, my head will automatically follow, unless I remind myself not to do that. One good part of having ADHD is that you react to things much faster than usual. When I’m trying to focus on a single task, I have difficulty staying on track with what I’m doing. Multi-tasking usually helps me to focus more. For example, chewing gum while doing my homework is a good way for me to focus better. Another problem I have with ADHD is how I “zone out”. Zoning out is basically daydreaming, but you leave your eyes looking at something that usually shouldn’t be looked at. My zoning out with ADHD is what inspired the title of my essay.

In elementary school I didn’t really know that I had ADHD. I had fun in elementary school. I was fairly calm at recess, but I was rather crazy in the classroom. That’s because at recess I felt at home because of the huge number of things going on at once. In class, when I had to buckle down and do one assignment at one time, it was far more boring, I got off-task, and I got hyper again. The teachers didn’t like this behavior. They all gave ideas for help but none of them really worked. My 5th grade teacher, Ms. Smith, was maybe one of the only teachers that really understood me inside. She felt that I could grow up to be a kind, respectful and understanding man. Still doesn’t mean she liked my hyperactive behavior, though!

When I entered 6th grade at Jefferson Middle School, I had no tactic to counter my ADHD. I’m going to take mercy on you, and spare the details, but while I was going to Jefferson, all my friends from elementary school were at a different middle school, Washington. Halfway through the 6th grade, I began to use a medication for my ADHD. I began with a small dose of Concerta (18 mg.), and by 7th grade I was up to 36 mg. Even on medication, I still have a lot of trouble controlling how I act. It’s also hard to focus on a task, even if I’m on my medication.

9 Comments

Dear Kevin: I also have ADHD, but i’m a 17 year old girl. I found out i had it when i was7, because my brother had died just a year and a half before which lead my mom to going to a therapist because she was so depressed and i was so out of control that she snapped at me one night screaming that she was going to put me up for adoption, the next day she told her therapist this. The therapist asked my mom if she could meet me amd my mom said sure. With in 15minutes of meeting me and talking to aunt they had me set up with a doctor and i started on 18mg of Concerta a week later. I am currently taking 90mg of Concerta a day, im starting my senior year of high school this fall and there a days that even with the amazingness that is Concerta i have to use self control and i have sever panic attacks, but ADHD is a part of me that i would never give up even if i could

Samantha, I am sorry that I am just getting around to replying. I haev had some trouble with people hacking into this site. I am so happy that Concerta has been a great help to you! Would you care to write a guest blog post?

Dear Kevin: I like you also have ADHD, but i’m a 17 year old girl. I found out i had it when i was7, because my brother had died just a year and a half before which lead my mom to going to a therapist because she was so depressed and i was so out of control that she snapped at me one night screaming that she was going to put me up for adoption, the next day she told her therapist this. The therapist asked my mom if she could meet me amd my mom said sure. With in 15minutes of meeting me and talking to aunt they had me set up with a doctor and i started on 18mg of Concerta a week later. I am currently taking 90mg of Concerta a day, im starting my senior year of high school this fall and there a days that even with the amazimgness that is Concerta

Kevin, now that i read your book, I thought about how long it was since i last saw ya! little catch up:

I’m now an EDM producer, i still have hyperness problems, but i’m keeping myself together. I now have a record deal with nightstep records now producing music at full speed with my melodic style. Here, this is my soundcloud link.

In response to the ‘Teen with ADHD’, I am glad you had at least one teacher you felt understood you. Sounds like she was right and you have grown up to be a kind, respectful young man. I work with young people with ADHD and realise how they are mis-understood by the world around them. Good Luck with your future, and be happy. I am not sure about the last comment about a healthy diet? Was that meant for you?

The importance of a healthy diet for all children includes children with ADHD. Today, the emphasis on diet and maintaining healthy weight in children applies to children with ADHD as well. Diets rich in fruits and vegetables are part of the healthy habits all parents should teach their children.